Question Repeating: Use Previous Answers to Repeat Questions

Question Repeating Example

Question Repeating (or Question Piping) allows you to repeat a question based on answer options selected (or not selected) from a question on a previous page.

For example, if you are asking respondents about brands that they are familiar with, you may want to ask the same follow-up question for each selected brand. Question Repeating is perfect for this scenario.

Setup

To set up question repeating:

  1. Edit the target question (the question you wish to repeat). This question must be on a later page than the question that you will be sourcing answers from.
  2. Access the Piping/Repeat tab.
  3. Select the source question you wish to use in repeating from the Repeat this question for each answer from the following question dropdown menu.
    Choose Source Question for Question Repeating/Piping
  4. Indicate whether you would like to Repeat based on the selected answers or Repeated based on the answers not selected.
    Repeat Based on Selected or Not Selected
  5. Click Save Question when you are finished.
  6. Within your question title you will probably want to display the source question option for each repetition. For example, the below highlighted portions of the question were automatically populated using a merge code.
    Dynamic Question Text via Piping Merge CodeIn general, this can be accomplished by using the [question("piped title")] merge code which you can copy and paste from this tutorial if you wish. This merge code is also available in the merge code dropdown menu within the editor toolbar as demonstrated below.

    During survey taking, the merge code will be replaced with the answer title of the source question.Seleting the Question Piped Title Merge Code from the Merge Code Dropdown Menu
    If you would prefer to use the reporting value of the answer, the merge code [question("piped value")] should be used instead. These merge codes are listed on the Piping/Repeat tab of your question for your reference. You can copy the merge codes from here to the question title!
    Piping Merge Code Reference

Learn about repeating questions based on unselected items.

Compatible Questions

The source question can be one of the following question types:

Piping into Rows and Columns

If the target question is a table, you can Pipe Into Rows of the table (this is question piping as the rows of the table are a question). This is the most common use of piping in a table. You can also Pipe Into Columns of a table (this is equivalent to option piping).

Pipe Into Rows

Compatible Target Questions for Piping Into Rows

Compatible Source Questions for Piping Into Rows

Compatible Target Questions for Piping Into Columns

Compatible Source Questions for Piping Into Columns

 Best Practice Tips

  • Test, Test and Test again - It is always a good idea to test your surveys particularly when using more advanced features like repeating and merge codes.
  • Carefully consider the source question you use in question repeating - If there are a lot of answer options there will be a lot of data points when reporting.  A lot of data points means a lot of columns in an export which can be unwieldy at best, and impossible to open at worst.
  • Understand the data you are collecting - Check out our Understand Piped/Repeated Data Tutorial for more info!
  • Carefully consider the use of repeating - Review our Considerations Before Using Piping & Repeating Best Practices documentation before you choose this feature.

Making edits to your question repeating setup

If the repeated question has collected data, you will not be able to edit the source question in your question repeating setup. This is because doing so can irreparably corrupt your data. Instead, we recommend that you disable the question and recreate the question with the new piping source you wish to use.

FAQ

How are special setting options such as Not applicable, Other, None of the above treated in question repeating?

NA, Other, etc. will not be included in question repeating. If you wish to override this you can do so within the answer option on the source question. Click the pencil icon to edit the option and scroll to the bottom of the Settings tab and change the Always Exclude from Piping to No.

Can I exclude an answer option from being repeated?

You sure can! If you wish to exclude an answer from being repeated you can do so within the answer option on the source question. Click the pencil icon to edit the option and scroll to the bottom of the Settings tab and change the Always Exclude from Piping to Yes.

My repeated questions are being alphabetized. Can I change this?

Repeated questions will always be alphabetized. There is not a way to change the order of repeated questions at this time. Check out our tutorial on Alternatives to Piping.

Can I set up logic off of an repeated question?

While there's not a built-in way to achieve this there is a workaround!

Troubleshooting

Are you having trouble selecting a question as your source question? There are two possible reasons as to why your question would not be showing up as your source question:

  1. The question you are trying to pipe from is not compatible.

    The only compatible question types for source questions at this time are:

  2. The question you are trying to use as your source is not on a prior survey page.

    Source questions for question repeating must be on a previous page. 

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